I started to throw some ideas together. I decided to build my first sketches on the anatomy samples Corey Smith provided to "Masters of Anatomy" ... dont know if i will stick to that, but i liked the bodyshape for the first initial idea and i wanted to get to the design process asap. I made a setup for my workflow, noted some ideas into the sketch and threw in the first lines. So far im happy .. but there is a lot of work to come

Did a second approach on bodyshape and armor design. I wanted the body to be more bulky and heavy on the legs ... i like Corey Smith anatomy basically, but i had to change something to get closer to the idea that starts to become more and more clear in my head. Then i made a second armor sketch with more details and some changes, but still sticking to the raw first thoughts. Really like how the design evolves.

Right now i think the active / in use "super powers" .. in case of my yet unnamed hero ... the blessings from different viking gods will be shown by different glowing symbols in the circle on his chest. If .. i dont change that later

My third sketch. Still in the design phase. unfortunately i had not so much time for the #ARTWAR during the last days. I was able to start with some weapon designs. Focused on the medieval / blade weapons. Guns will be part of the next step. I love the second spear, im 100% happy with the axe .... the knive is ok too ... but the swords .. mmmhhmm ... still need to work on them. Over all i tried to add some scifi-isch elements to the fantasy -style weapons. Also did some small tweaks on the armor and made my first approach on the the drone-design. Thought they could be mounted as discs on the back of the armor. From there they pop out into the air and "transform" into mechanical ravens. For the first try .. they are cool. Still .. more to come. See ya o/

TAOTK #CHARACTERDESIGN #NORSE #WIP

Well ... Hi .. and im not dead. I lost almost two weeks. Due to personal stuff and other disturbing things i almost found no time for art /this project during the last two weeks. It will be hard, to hit the deadline for this ... but i don't want to give up. So, here i am again.

I changed the proportions of the hips and legs, finally got to sketch the head / face and made a full design for the raven-drone. I also found the time for the first handgun design and a third, simple sword. Pretty happy with the face and the drone .. not sure with the swords. Also start to think that i need to work on the armor again. And i need to think more about the technology of the world ... or the way how those people obtained their technical stuff. Most of the tech comes from other and / or extremely ancient cultures. Either made by dwarven black- and runesmiths or found in the ruins of the culture that builds the dyson sphere that surrounds the worldtree (don't be surprised, its part of the story in my head XD) ...or found in the deep caves of the worldtree-construct. .... but the tech is rarely designed or made by humans. They have tech, but not that advanced. So they need help for maintenance an repair. And the materials they use to personalize and change the tech - "artifacts" will give them a mixed-scifi-fantasy-look. Really have to keep that in mind.

I try to catch up with my lost weeks during the next days... so stay tuned for more. See ya o/ #ARTWAR

I decided to put some more work into the characters face (really should pic a name in the near future) because I wasn't happy with some of the elements. I switch the whole face, because I most of the pictures in the web show ODIN without a right eye. Also worked on the beard ... didn't liked the first beard-ring-design and the overall shape. Also wanted to make him look more alive ... he needed details. I'm not sure with the tattoo on the forehead but with the rest .. yeaaa..thats probably it. Fun fact .. I don't know why, but i think he looks a bit like Batista the Wrestler XD.

Time for a big update ... at least i think its one. I re-designed a pretty good part of the bodyarmor and added some norse details to it. Now I'm pretty happy with the look and I think I will stick to this. Also added the new face to the design. After that I made comparing sheet you see above to use it as a base for the design of the for the personal stuff, equipment and details u need to fill a characterdesign with life. Then i added a life-size version of the spear. Over all I'm damn happy with the design ... still need to design another weapon, but after that i think i start to work on the "action illustration". Really hope i get it done before the deadline. With all the details and all that stuff ... its going to be tough XD. Still a lot of work.

Well ... i guess .. that's it. Think the designe - phase is done. I thought I would be done a bit earlier...but then I read the guidelines for the #ARTWAR again and saw, that I have to do a front AND a backside-sketch of the character. Also I decided do a second run on the weapon - design because, although I like the esthetics of modern days weapon-design, I wanted a different ... more scifi-isch ... more fitting look ( more on that in another post, link below this text ). All that gave me the option to more or less review the whole design an add some ideas here and there. The other good thing is ... they added another seven days to the contest deadline. As I still need to draw a full colored illustration of the character in action that is a pretty good decision for me XD. I'm sure I will make some more small changes here and there during the illustration, but that's a normal process I guess. Im really happy with the whole result and I have a ton of ideas in my mind to fill this world with more illustrations, story's and live. But first ... I need to make an illustration .

Weapon design ... i always liked to do that. Thinking through the technical details and usage of the weapon, trying to imagine the thoughts that might be behind the design of the weapon if someone actually would try to build it, the culture that made this weapon, whether it be a firearm or a close combat weapon, in what kind of way i can combine the technical possibilities of the specific world the weapon would exist in and the visual requirements that are created by the look / design language of the overall world/game/concept the weapon is created for ... going through all these things is actually fun for me. I picked some references i thought that would help me to find the right look and stated with something i simply like .. modern days weapon esthetics. Then i tried to imagine how it would change a weapon like that, if it would be owned by a culture that lives in the sci-fi / fantasy mix world version of the northern mythology. And I wasn't happy with the result. Shit .. what now? I restarted the thinking process and realized that the weapon wasn't "fantasy" enough but at the same time it wasn't "scifi" enough for the world i have in mind. So i picked up the idea of a modern day / scifi crossbow and looked at some vids about tank ammunition that works with hyper-velocity molten metal ...sound cool to me . Additionally i wanted the weapon to be a one-hand firearm . The character wields a big spear ... so there are rarely situations where he would have both hands for a firearm. So I designed it compact / bulpup style.

The internal mechanism utilizes a high tech - slingshot / crossbow system that accelerates the projectiles of the weapon on hyper velocity level. The ammunition of the weapon is a tungsten-powder and every magazine holds enough powder for a couple hundred shot. The conversion chamber melts the needed amount of powder and transfers it to the infusion system where it takes its final, pre-programmed form and is then fired by the slingshot. On form is either a razor sharp dart of solid tungsten with mono-molecular edges, that is used for bursts and "soft" targets, or the other form is a single shot 3400 °c bigger bolt of molten tungsten for "hard" targets. At least in my mind this should have some cool effects XD.

Just a quick snapshot of my work on the illustration. Have lost some worktime during the last days due to "external influences" ... means there are two pretty hard days of work and long nights coming up for me. I will not give up. I want to do this!

I hate to write this .. but .. its 6:20 AM in Germany, I'm awake for more the 20 Hrs, my back hurts from sitting on my art tablet, I'm tired as hell, my linework started to get sloppy hrs ago, its hard to make decisions and coffee has no effect on me anymore ... and I'm not event finished with the lineart. Close, but not finished. I wont get it done in time. And thats only the lineart ... i would still need to apply the colors. This is frustrating me so damn f@cking hard ... but I give up. I will not be able to deliver my artwork in time. Good luck to all the other participants of the #Artwar ... but I quit. Maybe next time.

THATS IT .. i finally finished this. It was fun, although it took way longer then i thought it would .... but again i learned a lot. Today, 13/03/2K19 this pretty much represents my creative skillset. Thats what i can deliver. Im really happy how the artwork looks and hope i will illustrate more of this world soon. Basically he is a paladin devoted to Odin in a northern mythology based sci-fi world im working on. More info about the project and the story in my blog on Artstation.